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developmental theories that emphasize children’s actions on the environment and suggest that age-related changes in reasoning precede and explain changes in other domains.

the process by which a teacher (or parent, older child, or other person in the role of teacher) structures a learning encounter with a child, so as to lead the child from step to step

the range of tasks that are slightly too difficult for a child to do alone but that can be accomplished successfully with guidance from an adult or more experienced child.

a set of theories based on the idea that humans process information in ways that are similar to those used in computers.

Psychological theories that explain development in terms of accumulated learning experiences.

An automatic, or unconditional response such as an emotion or a reflex comes to be triggered by a new cue, called the conditional stimulus, after having been paired several times with that stimulus.

The type of learning in which the probability of a person’s performing some behavior is increased or decreased because of the consequences it produces

The process of strengthening a behavior by the presentation of some pleasurable or positive stimulus

the process of strengthening a behavior by the removal or cessation of an unpleasant stimulus.

the removal of a desirable stimulus (ex. TV) or the administration of an unpleasant consequence (ex. grounding) after some undesired behavior (ex. talking back) in order to stop the behavior.

the use of multiple theoretical perspectives to explain and study human development.

A testable prediction based on a theory.

A form of research study in which samples of participants from several different age groups are studied at the same time.

A form of research study in which the same participants are observed or assessed repeatedly over a period of months or years.

A form of research study that combines cross-sectional and longitudinal designs in some way.

in-depth examinations of single individuals

A research method in which participants are observed in their normal environments.

A statistic used to describe the strength of a relationship between two variables. It can range from -1.00 to +1.00. The closer it is to +1.00 or -1.00, the stronger the relationship being described.

A research method for testing a causal hypothesis, in which participants are assigned randomly to experimental and control groups and the experimental group is then provided with a particular experience that is expected to alter behavior in some fashion

A group of participants in an experiment who receive a particular treatment intended to produce some specific effect

A group of participants in an experiment who receive either no special treatment or some neutral treatment.

A condition or event that an experimenter varies in some systematic way in order to observe the impact of that variation on participants’ behavior.

The variable in an experiment that is expected to show the impact of manipulations of the independent variable; also called the outcome variable.

any study that involves comparisons of different cultures or contexts.

ethical standards for research involving human participants are based on five major themes: